Kochi: Sub-Lieutenant Shivangi of the Indian Navy today became the first naval woman pilot and joined operational duties at its base in Kochi.
Fulfilling her long-cherished dream, she received her ‘qualification wings’ from the chief of Southern Naval Command Vice Admiral AK Chawla.
I have been craving this for a long time. It is a great feeling, she said. Hailing from Muzzafarpur in Bihar, Shivangi would be flying the Naval Dornier surveillance aircraft.
As part of her training, Shivangi has flown Pilatus PC 7 Mk II, Basic Trainer at AFA and completed Dornier Conversion with the Indian navy in Kochi.
She would continue her training at INAS 550, the Dornier squadron at INS Garuda, to become a fully operational pilot on Maritime reconnaissance (MR) aircraft.
Shivangi started dreaming of becoming a pilot ever since she saw a chopper carrying a minister landed in the neighborhood of her grandparents’ place in Bihar during her childhood. Shivangi recalled that everyone in the area had gathered around to see the helicopter and she was one among them.
She got ‘super-inspired” when she saw the helicopter and the man flying it. She said her family is supportive and they never questioned her wish to join defense forces.
Courtesy PTI
